Next Things First: Red
by ll.ChestnutKey.ll
Summary: Haven't you ever wondered what happened next?  The secret is now revealed.
1. Chapter 1 Albus l Friends with the Enemy

**Disclaimer: As far as I can tell, I am not J. K. Rowling, nor will I ever be, therefore this story is merely a fanfiction, and not a work of her own.**

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Trees rolled by for what seemed like hours. Lazy clouds looked frozen, unable to move with the speed we were already traveling. The blue of the sky did not dim to black, despite the agonizingly long wait. My watch ticked slowly with each second, waiting an extra five before moving. The wait to Hogwarts was awful. Although Aunt Hermione clearly stated to me once that Time-Turners could not propel the user into the future, I was – at that moment – tempted to steal one from the Ministry, if only to try: one day of my life less wasted.

Accompanying me on this endless track to Hogwarts were my cousin, Rose Weasley, and a boy that appeared to be sleeping. Our compartment was far from full, but the last one left. This meant that we were sitting at the very back of the train, doomed to be the last to leave. The only point of this excessive wait was to strike fear into the hearts of First Years, who were speculating the horrors of getting into the wrong Hogwarts Houses. If only life were easier than that.

The boy sitting across from Rose shifted in his sleep, making me hope he might wake up. Someone to talk to other than my know-it-all cousin would be quite nice for my already swiftly shrinking ego.

The boy sitting diagonally away from me grunted, before his stressed looking eyes opened up, just only a sliver. I realized that Rose noticed this too, as we then exchanged glances. Hopefully this wouldn't turn into a war of whose new best friend the mysterious character would be. However, if it did come to that, I would surely win with my less irritating personality.

"Potter," the boy whispered, and we both jumped. He knew my name, yet we'd never spoken a word! "That's what you're called, isn't it?" he asked. Yawning, the boy sat up. Now fully awake and uncovered by his makeshift blanket, I noticed his features more easily. The boy's hair was slicked back with shiny gel and appeared platinum blond, while his eyes looked rather tired and dark blue. His pointed face made him look rather snooty, though. I wasn't very good at making friends with snooty boys.

"How did you know?" I finally got the Gryffindor courage to ask. Rose looked a bit offended, so it was safe to assume that she was going to say the same thing. Either that, or she disliked the way the boy was talking to me. It was really hard to tell with Rose, actually.

The blond boy shrugged. "'Saw your picture in a book, I think," the boy shrugged, much to my surprise. As far as I could remember, I'd never been a book-model, "but you should have a scar . . ." He stopped speaking immediately, causing me as well as Rose, probably, to feel slightly confused. "No, of course! That would be your father. Never mind me."

Rose and I exchanged another peculiar glance. "I guess Uncle Harry does have a small scar on his forehead," she replied smoothly. "I don't see why that would have any importance, though."

A look of realization dawned on the boy's face. "You don't know anything, do you?" he asked before biting his lip apologetically. "Forget I said anything, okay? Please."

I blinked at the strange reply. "Sure," I told him, not really caring. Maybe he was too weird to be my new best friend.

"No problem," Rose agreed.

While I assumed that he'd simply made a mistake, it was obvious that my cousin believed otherwise, as she was staring at the boy intently. Apparently I wasn't the only one who noticed, because only a brief moment later he asked her exactly the reason for doing so.

"Nothing, I suppose," she replied, smirking a little. "I just suddenly recalled my father telling me never to marry a pure-blood." This was either a sad attempt at flirting, or Rose was trying to tell me something. I had to think for a little while, but she had to be referring to something recent, right?

My eyes widened, and I immediately blurted out, "Malfoy! You're Scorpius Malfoy!" I stood up angrily, as the boy's stupid expression made him look slightly scared. It didn't fool me, though. Malfoys were born for trickery, like all Slytherin gits.

Suddenly, the train made an unpleasant lurch at exactly the wrong time, causing me to fall forward onto the floor of the train. Rose and Malfoy burst out laughing simultaneously, causing my face to morph into a contorted scowl.

In no time at all, I stood right back up and got ready to yell. How dare they laugh at my discomfort. "Stop it!" I screamed at them, hoping for the giggling to subside. "S'not funny." Rose pressed her lips together into a definite smirk.

"Sorry," Malfoy told me, trying to hold in his evil laughter. "You just seem far less fearsome than I originally speculated." Rose failed to hide her equally taunting smile, and I shifted my heavy glare momentarily to her.

Gingerly, I sat back down, glaring at the both of them as I did so. Malfoy and Rose were the meanest people I knew at that brief moment in time.

Rose introduced herself to the horrid blond, as I looked away in disgust. "It's nice to know that you aren't as evil as I'd thought you'd be." I snorted. As if!

"The same goes for you," the cunning boy stated with a fake-cheerful reply. How could Rosie be falling for such obvious tricks?

My red-headed cousin pointed a finger casually in my direction. "Thank you. Oh, and that grumpy oaf sitting next to me is Albus." Malfoy smirked as she said it, and I made a face.

"It's rude to point," I said tightly. I couldn't understand how she could speak to our family's arch nemesis with such nonchalant ease! This boy was going to influence Rose into Slytherin, as he was just the bad influence she didn't need. He was such a suspicious wizard, with his pure-blooded and prejudice ways.

"You're being such a killjoy, Albus," Rose stated, forcing my frown to fall further. Malfoy was nodding his head slightly in agreement. What did he know, that prat?

So the two of them decided to ignore me, and instead attended to their own devices. What I actually mean by that, of course, is their chitchat and frivolous mind games. I, myself, fell asleep, before being woken up by the crunch of chocolate frog wrappers, and Rose's unintelligent (I was at first convinced) query of, "Is the answer to this question no?"

At that point, I wanted to blurt out that it was the most useless question one could think of, but I knew that she wouldn't care even if I said so. If I thought anything was stupid, that automatically made them the cleverest things in the world, in Rose's book.

"Of course not," said Malfoy, beating me to it. He had a smug look on his snobbish face, and I couldn't understand why.

"Nicely worded, Scorpius," Rose congratulated, resulting in the enragement of me, myself, and I. They were on first name terms? They might as well just go off and get married! They were perfect for each other, with their stupid, Slytherin-like qualities. "That was a perfect answer for the question." It was hard to admit, even to myself, that I would have only answered_ no_.

I waited to hear Malfoy's riddle. "Nothing on the outside, nothing on the inside. Lighter than a feather, yet ten men cannot lift it. What is it?" Rose appeared to be absolutely stumped, and I could only agree. Could it be air? No . . . air doesn't have an inside. Maybe it was a log, but it couldn't be. Logs weren't lighter than feathers; not unless it was a really small log. I thought some more. Bird bones were apparently hollow . . .

Finally, Rose opened up her mouth reluctantly. At first, I thought it was to give up, but I was sadly mistaken. "I would say that it would have to be a bubble, right?" she asked. A bubble? Why that was the dumbest answer I'd ever heard! It was – well, it was far too lame to be the correct answer. That I knew. "It's the only thing I can think of that's hollow, yet still impossible to lift." Dang it.

Malfoy nodded enthusiastically. "You're right, Rose. That's absolutely brilliant that you got it on your first try!" I scoffed, though shrinking a little bit in my seat. He was just buttering her up.

"You're pretty smart, too, Scorpius," Rose told him happily. _Happily!_ My cousin was betraying the Weasley-Potters. How dare she befriend the enemy, yet she did. "I'd bet that you'd be in Ravenclaw for sure."

"He's too busy being a Slytherin prune," I muttered to myself, but neither of them were paying enough attention to hear.

The Malfoy prick shook his head. "No. I'm aiming to be in Slytherin like the rest of my family." I snorted again, and Rose looked at me angrily. "You should be in Ravenclaw, though. You've definitely got the brains for it."

Before Rose could even open her mouth to speak, I exploded with fury. "Rosie and I are going to be Gryffindors, just like our family. No Slytherin scum is going to tell her otherwise!" Rose's jaw dropped, and Malfoy looked extremely offended.

"Albus!" she shouted, sounding eerily like Aunt Hermione. Rose pushed me away as she said this. "Don't you dare be so rude to my new friend!" Her eyes were blazing with absolute fury, and so were mine.

But those words did it for me. I could not stand it any longer. "Friend, Rose? _Friend?_ He's a Malfoy; a stupid blood-purity fanatic! How could you even talk to him without the least bit of distaste? His family has been making fun of ours for centuries. Can't you feel even a small amount of spitting hatred towards him?"

According to her, my point had not been made, because she dared argue against me. "No, Albus!" she yelled angrily. "And do you want to know why? It's because, despite what you may think, Scorpius is neither his mum nor his dad, regardless of how terrible you assume they are." Malfoy appeared to look rather awkward, caught up in the situation of the moment. _Let him be uncomfortable_, I thought venomously. _Let him be scared off with my words._

I could feel my face turn red through the heat of the argument. "Can't you understand, Rose? Their blood-traitors! Their bloody fu-"

"There are two types of blood prejudice, Albus," Malfoy interrupted, in an eerily calm voice. Rose and I broke away from our battle in order to stare at him blankly. What could he possible be talking about? "There's hatred of Muggles and the Muggle-borns," he stated coolly, "and there's hatred of those who think their blood is absent of it."

Rose and I stared at him silently. Realization spread across her face, but I still didn't understand it. "You don't believe that there's such thing as Muggle-free blood, do you?" she asked with awe, though I had a feeling that there was more to his words than that. It was plainly a trick, but I could see where Rose was coming from.

Malfoy sighed loudly, and stretched his right arm across his body. "It's proven by science, isn't it?"

"I never thought of it that way," Rose commented after a few moments. I didn't know was this science was at the time. Probably some kind of powerful wizard magic, right?

"And since you, Potter," Malfoy said, shifting his eyes to me, "wouldn't seem to mind me leaving, I shall do so."

As Malfoy stood up, Rose stood up in order to stop him. "You don't have to go. Albus didn't mean it." She turned to me with a hardened expression, giving me one of her deadly death-glares. "You want him to stay, don't you, Albus?"

I sighed, feeling rather frustrated at the time. "Fine. He can stay in our compartment," I surrendered, although only to keep Rose from killing me.

The stupid Malfoy sat right back down as I said this, with a sheepish smile on his face. "Thanks, actually. All the other compartments are full, so it would've been difficult to join another one." Rose elbowed me, and I stuck my tongue at her, like a seven year old girl.

It was silent for a few moments, and I could feel Rose and Malfoy's eyes looking at me expectantly. Not knowing why, at last I said, "I know a good brain teaser, as well." Rose rolled her eyes, the familiar kindness returning to her face.

"So," I began, feeling rather pleased with myself. "There's a cowboy who goes into town on Friday, stays for three days, and then leaves on Friday. How did he do it?" At that moment, I realized that they had only waited for me to finish because they were trying to act polite. It was all written in their bored expressions.

"The horse's name is Friday," both Malfoy and Rose stated in unison, not a second worth of hesitation.

I frowned. "That was an easy one, anyways." They nodded slowly, looking curious yet unsure. "How about this one: What is a wolf, yet not a wolf?"

Rose sighed, as Malfoy told me, "No offense, but that just sounds like a bad way to say werewolf." I looked at Rose for support, but her face portrayed an equal sign of pity. I groaned, feeling vaguely annoyed.

It was then when Malfoy handed me a piece of paper. "Why don't you try this one out?" he told me. I snorted, yet took the paper anyways.

Looking at the words scrawled on the parchment, I immediately felt confused. "The next statement is false. The previous statement is true," I read aloud.

"Hopefully it isn't too confusing for you," he said, infuriating me. I could figure out any puzzle he could!

I laughed confidently. "It's easy, I tell you!" Quickly I scrawled down a random guess, and handed it back to him.

"The first statement is true and the second one is false," he read slowly. My heart stopped. What if I was wrong? How stupid would Rose and Malfoy think I was? "True, but it would have been slightly less complicated if you just had done the opposite."

I snorted, sticking my nose in the air like a prissy girl. "Shut up." I then stood and grabbed my uniform. "We're going to arrive soon, I think. I should go change." In all truth, I just wanted to get away from Rose's new best friend.

"It is getting rather dark," Malfoy agreed, to my immediate disappointment. Noticing where this was headed, I began to wish that I'd changed before arriving at the train station, just like Rose had done. "I'll come with you, then."

As Malfoy left through the compartment door first, Rose pulled me aside for a moment. "Gosh darn it!" she shouted, to my surprise. "You sounded like a snorting pig in there. Stop it, Albus!" Red in the face, I ducked my head out into the isle. I needed to find the dressing compartment before I oinked in anyone else's faces. Secretly, I vowed to never snort again.

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**Thought of the Day: What two coins make up 30 cents if one of them is not a nickel?**


	2. Chapter 2 James l Nostalgia

**Answer: A quarter and a nickel make up 30 cents. The _other _one is the nickel.**

**Disclaimer: I'm not even British.  
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Four golden tables stretched across the Great Hall, each placed with shining silver plates to match. Every one of the thousand Hogwarts students was cramped before their dishes, with only the little number of a hundred or so small spaces available for First Years. I sat the closest to the front that I could get, with my three best mates surrounding me, anxiously awaiting Albus' and Rose's Sorting. The two were both almost guarantied to get into Gryffindor, and I found it hard to imagine them being in a different House than me – not that I was planning to hang out with them during school, or anything dorky like that. It would just make it a whole lot easier to pull pranks on them. Yeah; that's why I wanted them in my House. Right.

After my stomach had been growling for what seemed like ages, Professor Flitwick finally entered the Hall with a massive number of First years tailing behind him. I was beginning to wish that there were fewer students in each year, because I was starving!

When each new kid reached the front of the room, all having finished pointing at the bewitched ceiling and the minuscule fairies enchanted to buzz around the chandeliers, a dirty black had sitting on a wooden stool opened up a large hole that gave the impression of a mouth, and begun to sing:

"_A Hogwarts year_

_has just arrived;_

_A new chapter of the story._

_The legacy left of from wars_

_Are sure to breed young glories._

_So Gryffindor_

_(a red-haired man)_

_set off to pick his pupils_

_Every year small souls of First_

_are Sorted by their chivalrous bravery._

_Then Hufflepuff:_

_a wonderful girl;_

_Kind-hearted (yes, she was)_

_Those loyal are by far most favored_

_in the House she held with great honor._

_Bright Ravenclaw,_

_she was the one_

_to have come up with the school._

_A woman to value brains the most_

_Allows those smart to reside in her tower._

_And Slytherin_

_He preferred those most_

_with quite a talent for cun._

_His students escalate to the top_

_to gain their fame and fortune first._

_The new students in this Hogwarts school,_

_I tip my hat to you._

_Don't dare you fright;_

_By seven years (delight!)_

_You're bound to be the great masters_

_of your own wizarding stories!"_

The Hall erupted into cheers after the hat's last lines, and I couldn't help but join along. If only the hat were a human, with it's brilliant deep voice (although it had been raspy in the last year's song) would have made millions of Galleons on music. The hat, looking quite pleased with itself, bowed to each table before becoming still once again. A few of the First Years appeared to be exceptionally more nervous than before, and I remembered my own Sorting.

"_Potter, James!" Headmaster Slughorn – just Professor at the time – had called. Immediately my legs turned to jelly, and my stomach twisted into a knot. Louis on the Gryffindor table, only a year older than me, gave an expecting look, only making me feel worse._

_Nervously, I climbed up onto the small stool, as the walrus-like Deputy Headmaster dropped the filthy, shredded hat onto my head. I jumped in my seat, feeling the soiled Hogwarts artifact leave residue on my already disturbed black hair. It was then when I realized that the Hall had begun talking, and I felt offended that no one wished to pay attention to my Sorting. Sure, I was one of the last to be Sorted, but they were being rude!_

_The hat shifted on my head, and I felt exceptionally disturbed by it. A small voice in my ear, louder than all the whispers in the Great Hall combined, then began to speak. It said, _"It's been quite a while since I sorted a Pott–"_ but I was quick to cut it off._

"Please make me Gryffindor!" _I all but shouted in my mind. _"I'm brave, I tell you. Just give me a chance! No way are you putting me in Ravenclaw, or Hufflepuff, or (God forbid) Slytherin . . ."

_The hat sighed in a very baffled manner. _"I was going to put you in Gryffindor anyways," _said the hat to me, and I let out a sigh of relief._

"_Thank you," I told it, aloud by accident._

"You're welcome,"_ stated the hat, not sounding very welcome at all. _"Now then, _GRYFFINDOR!"_

_A cheer from my table seemed significantly louder than the rest, and I confidently strode over to an empty seat. Niel Entwhistle, a boy who I'd just met on the train had saved the spot for me._

"_As I was saying, James," he said, picking up from our previous conversation, "I expected a hat, yes, but never in my life did I think it would be an alto!" The joke wasn't the greatest, but I laughed. Hogwarts was going to rock!_

Now that my moment of Sorting terror was long over, I smirked at the incoming students. It was funny to watch them whimper in fear. My own brother, Albus, had a bold look displayed on his face, despite his previous uncertainty of getting into the family House. Rosie looked nervous like the rest of her Year, though.

"So which ones are hot then, James?" Woody Flicker had leaned over the table to ask me this. I put on a goofy grin.

"I don't think I'd be too attracted to First Years, Woody," I told him. He and Ethan Peters shook their heads with mild amusement.

Niel chuckled, though. "Then which ones _will_ be, in a few years time? That red head, for example. She might be cute so long as her hair straightens out."

I looked at him with slight distaste. "Blimey, Niel! That's my cousin." With so much female kin going to school with me, these kinds of comments were always heard, no matter which group of friends I was deciding to hang out with.

Woody smirked, though. "Another one, then?" he asked. "It seems that you've already got loads." It was true. I had at least one in every Year except for Second. Along with that, there was Fred who just graduated in the previous year, my sister and Hugo coming in two more years, and finally Roxanne joining in a year after that. I had a feeling that there wouldn't be too much of a gap before either Fred or Victoire's future children would start populating the school after the final of my generation left Hogwarts.

"Far more than you can count," Ethan then supplied. I frowned.

"At least I've got some."

"Harsh, mate."

"Oi! I shouldn't have to treat you any better just because neither set of your grandparents wanted more than one child, Ethan."

"Look! The Sorting is starting." It was Woody who spoke the last line. All eyes faced the front of the room, where Professor Flitwick had finished unrolling a scroll.

"Bones, Sandra," he called loudly. A small shrimp of a girl scurried over to the wooden stool.

I then commented, "I remember wishing my name was Able, just so I could be the first to get it over with."

Niel gave me an entertained look. "Able Potter?" he asked. "Wouldn't be my choice of name."

"No, you prat! James Able," I told him, wishing to hit him over the head with a Beater's bat for his remarkable stupidity. "It's not the best name, but at least then I'd be picked first for loads more things." Niel smirked, and I looked away.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" the hat shouted, as the table opposite to the Gryffindor began to excitedly clap, welcoming in their newest House-mate.

"Apparently there's a rumor that the first two always go into Hufflepuff," Ethan told me.

"No way," I replied to him. Thinking for a moment, I said, "How about I dye my hair bright pink if the next one isn't put into – how about Ravenclaw?"

"Deal." Ethan and I shook hands from across the table. "For your sake, I hope that girls are in to priss boys."

"Boot, Zackary." This time a young boy put on the hat, looking uncomfortable from the muck it produced.

"RAVENCLAW!" The table farthest away cheered fanatically, and I struck an impressive grin, beaming.

"How in the hell did you manage that?" Niel gasped, as the other two stared with awe.

"Magic," I joked, leaving all three boys to look disappointed. I turned to Ethan. "I hope your hair looks good in pink, priss-man!"

"Aw, shut it, James!" Ethan exclaimed. "We only agreed that you would."

"Fine, fine."

Just then, "Burke, Dillon" and "Coleson, Skye" became more Ravenclaws.

"Coleson might be hot," Woody commented. "Blond hair really does it for me. But that Burke kid is definitely not. You wouldn't catch _anybody_ with them!"

"I thought we were only doing girls, Wood!" Ethan exclaimed. "Burke's a boy."

Woody made a mock sigh of relief, and I smirked at them. "That's a guy? Such good news to him, then." The rest of decided to roll our eyes before pointing them back in the direction of the hat.

"Coote, Thomas" then became (wait for it . . .) our first "GRYFFINDOR!"

Our table exploded with so much noise, that Niel and I just had to stand up and say, "Coote is ours, baby! In your faces!" Added with the enthusiastic high-five, the boy might have felt just a bit awkward.

We then dubbed a girl, Crumpet, future hot goddess of the world, but took It back once she was Sorted into Slytherin. Much later, Alice Longbottom and Jane Mallory of Hufflepuff were decided too lanky for beauty, and Rachel Nott of Ravenclaw a girl with only average attractiveness.

Soon there were hardly any students left – maybe only forty more at the most. There was "Oden" . . . "Oxe" . . . "Palia" . . . "Parks" . . . "Payre" . . . "Potter" . . . _Potter!_ Whispers once again began.

As Albus put on the hat, I waved, giving him a thumbs up, although I wasn't sure if he saw. Like a true Potter, it wasn't long before the dirty hat shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!" and he rushed to my side.

"I knew you could do it, man!" I congratulated.

"You liar!" the mini-me with green eyes beamed. "I told you I wouldn't be in Slytherin."

"I don't remember that at all," I teased. "If I recall correctly, it was me begging you to be in Gryffindor. _'No, dear brother! Slytherin is not the way!'_"

Albus shook his head, trying to hold in a smile. "Sorry, James, but you recall _in_correctly."

"Fine. Be that way." I turned my head, and stuck my nose in the air. A small smile cracked, and my brother and I started laughing hysterically, earning the two of us a few angry glares. I put a finger to my mouth as Niel punched my arm in order to get me to shut up.

Immediately after this one Pratt fellow (poor bloke,) two relatively pretty Primes twins were Sorted into our House, and I didn't miss a chance to whistle loudly for each of them. One of the two (don't remember which, seeing as they were identical) must have thought it was Albus who did it, though, seeing as she kept looking at him and batting her eyelashes.

Soon enough, it was only Emily Taylor, Noah Thomas, and Eloise Urquhart, Sorted into Ravenclaw, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin respectively, left before our little Rosie, who turned out to be the third-to-last Sorted. Rosie took much longer than the other First Years to Sort, and I could tell she was fighting the hat by the scrunched up look on her face. ("She's probably going on against Ravenclaw," Albus said.)

Finally, the hat screamed, "GRYFFINDOR!" and we burst with a dazzle of applause. I caught Niel almost whistling before I reminded him, "Cousin, remember?" The bright smile on Rosie's face made my heart swell, as she made her way to the Gryffindor table.

"You did it, cuz!" Albus congratulated. She hugged the both of us before finding a seat.

Before the feast began, Wilson and Yaxley were Sorted into their respectable Houses.

It was then when Headmaster Horace Slughorn got to his feet. "Welcome to Hogwarts, my students!" the old man said, smiling largely. "Before our feast can begin, I would like to thank each and every one of you for welcoming me into the Headmaster position after Professor McGonagall's retirement, and also choosing to become part of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Now, as I am sure you have all been waiting for, let the banquet begin!"

Many of the students clapped politely, or marveled at the magically appearing meal, but I simply dug in.

"Food at last," Ethan sighed happily, as I nodded with equal pleasure, stuffing my plate and mouth with every type of meat imaginable.

When I saw Albus only deliver a simple bit of macaroni and cheese to his plate, I forced a chicken leg into his hand. "Come on, brother. Eat!"

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**Thought of the Day: A new movie just came out, and you are dieing to see it, however, there is a problem. The movie will always cost twice as much money that you have with you, so you try to find your way around it. One day you come to buy your ticket, and you say that you have five dollars, even though you really have ten. You are charged twenty dollars. Another day you come with the same ten dollars, and you bring a friend who also has ten dollars. You are charged with twenty dollars, but as soon as your friend gives you the ten more dollars, the price rises to forty. Somehow, everyone you know has seen it at that theatre, and they followed the same rule. How much money should you bring with you?**


	3. Chapter 3 Scorpius l Good Times

**Disclaimer: I've never even been to Europe, let alone live there.**

**Oh, and Beanatrix LeString gave me a riddle, to my surprise: dead in the center of an island is a rabbit. It is six feet in each direction to one edge. If one hop is equal to one foot, how many hops does it take for the rabbit to get to one side of the island? If you don't get it, read it through once more.**

**My Answer: The rabbit would have to hop one time, right? Because if it hops once then it's on a side and not the middle anymore... Unless it's not a trick question... Blerg. :D ? Thanks for the riddle, I hope I got it right!  
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Before I could even try to appreciate the subtle beauty of the way each food plate was decorated, it was almost gone. The steak had been reduced from a handsomely stacked pyramid to a sloshy red mess, and the sweetly cut bread had been spread sloppily across its dish. Outraged, I only reluctantly took a bite from my salad, now splattered with chicken oil and steak sauce.

"What's the matter with you?" a boy sitting next to me said snidely. "Food not delicate enough for your system?" He appeared to be a Second Year, and one that could easily beat me up.

"If you must know," I retorted bravely, "I am a vegetarian, and this seems to be the only non-meat product I can reach." The boy curled his lip into a sneer. "Who do you think you are, anyways?"

"Piers Higgs," the boy answered. "You?"

The corner of my mouth twitched into a devious smile. "Scorpius Malfoy." He immediately stopped eating. "Weren't paying enough attention to the Sorting, were you?"

Higgs' eyes widened. "I, uh . . . Please just forget I said anything!" The Malfoy family had once been a big part of Voldemort's Death Eater group, and that still threatened the less-than-pure-bloods, even if I did normally disapprove of it most of the time. This was one of the exceptions that I loved.

Continuing to eat my small salad, and fancy croûtons, I was only to be stopped by the girl sitting beside me. I recognized her from the Ceremony as Lydia Crumpet, and noticed that she was eating only light fruit.

"Hullo," she uttered slowly, with a Scottish accent and a distant look in her eye. "I was wonderin' how a Malfoy could be a vegetarian. Yer' family was very close to ta' Dark Lord – at least in the First War – and murdered many filthy Mudbloods and blood traitors, yet ya' can't stand ter' eat a simple bit o' meat."

I tilted my head slightly, immediately disliking the girl. "As far as I can tell," I remarked coldly, "I wasn't alive during either war, and I haven't killed any people, either." This was exactly the kind of occasion in which I did not like the attention due to my Malfoy status.

"Maybe, but how could ya' come from a family like that, yet still be a bloody vegetarian?" The girl's face was still unusually blank. Either some dumb bloke had randomly decided to cast the Imperious Curse on her, or Crumpet . . . That was weird, if not dangerous for an eleven year old girl!

"I really don't think that you should be talking," I suddenly told her, the words forming in my lips before they reached my head.

Crumpet gave me a slow, empty stare, and asked me to repeat myself, in the single word – no, not even a word – of, "Yuh?"

I rolled my eyes at the girl, despite the serious accusation I was about to make. Part of me was worried I would be wrong. How funny. "I said that I don't really think that you should be saying such things," I repeated clearly, "when you're a wizard yet still hyped up on Muggle drugs."

The brunette girl (pretty as she was, the brainless look set on her face disturbed me) blinked slowly, waiting a few moments to process exactly what I had said. "Woul'nt say that," she finally told me, as her slow drawl became a little less definite. "I don't think me mum buys 'em from those dirty Muggles. 'Don't use any, though. Not one in me family does."

I raised an eyebrow. "Really, now? I recognize the symptoms. Besides, why does your mum buy drugs for you when you never even use them, anyways?"

"'Never said that. I don't even use 'em. S'not illegal, anyways." She might have looked triumphant if the drugs weren't effecting her so.

I sighed, feeling a bit disappointed. I was in the same House as a girl like this? Maybe Ravenclaw wasn't so bad. "Overdose is."

"'Don't think . . ." but she cut herself off, as in some sort of deep thought. I doubted she realized that Muggle laws were wizard ones, as well. "S'maybe not," she then muttered, more to herself than me.

I sighed at the disappointment that I felt for my House. The other Slytherins, so far, seemed rude, obnoxious, and stupid. If only I had listened to Rose and gone on into Ravenclaw. It had only been a side choice for me, with Slytherin winning in a ratio of about five to one, but the Sorting hat had at least offered it.

Plus, if I were in Ravenclaw, then I would have dated . . . that's another story, but let's just say that being in Ravenclaw would have made it a lot easier to date my then future wife. Might have made things get started faster, too.

But no matter how stupid I thought my House was, I was in it, and was just going to have to deal with it for the time being. Besides, first impressions weren't always accurate, right?

When everyone was done eating their dinner, the untidy food on the table and in people's hands vanished, and were replaced with delicious desserts. Pies, cakes, sorbet, and any other treat I could think of was available, but while my House-mates piled on the ice cream sundaes with cookie sandwiches and pumpkin pasties, I took a single lemon tart, not feeling very hungry anymore. Higgs and Crumpet seemed to be in the same boat as me, as they took nothing either.

I looked one table over and saw Rose eating with her brothers. I smiled at her, and she cared enough to look up and smile back at me.

"Ya' like 'er?" Crumpet gabbed, breaking the moment. "I di'nt know Slytherins and Gryffindors could like one another."

I blushed, looking back at Crumpet. "Wha . . .? What are you talking about? Rose is my friend!"

"First name terms already, Malfoy?" the girl drawled. "For your sake, I 'ope she's pure-blooded." I honestly didn't know whether Rose was or wasn't, but I didn't care. It wasn't as if we were going to get married or anything close to that. Me and Rose? _Crazy._

I went back to eating my tart, which is when the new First Years around me began talking about their blood status. I had already known that Sobee Goyle was pure-blooded, but was surprised when she said that it was an arranged marriage, so it didn't really count to her. Andrew Reuben revealed that his mum was a Muggle, which made Gabriella Parks, who had two half-blood parents, look strangely happy.

"Both of my parents are pure-bloods," William Gamp proclaimed proudly, looking rather arrogant about it. "My mum went to school here, but my dad was at Durmstrang. They met when shopping for new school robes, actually."

Callum Rosier looked up from his dessert. "But isn't that Sophia girl in Gryffindor your sister?" he asked suspiciously. "I don't think that she's pure." A lot of those included in the conversation stopped to glare at Gamp, as if he were lying.

"We're . . ." the boy paused for a moment, "third cousins on my dad's side. Her side of the family was cut off because of her father being an ugly Squib. Then he ruined her blood even more by marrying a Muggle woman. 'Course she ended up in Gryffindor, just like everyone said her father would have."

I noticed that no one bothered to ask me about my heritage, but I knew that it was because most wizards already knew. _Scorpius Malfoy is a pure-blood._ I wondered if the Gryffindors had to put up with the same kind of blood-crap, and made a mental note to ask Rose later.

Instead of dragging on with the foolish topic, I looked up at the High Table that the teachers were eating at. The only people I recognized, though, were Professor Flitwick and Headmaster Slughorn. Two others that really caught my eye were an enormous man with curly dark hair draped over his head and covering his face as a flowing beard, and a relatively muscular looking man that appeared extremely angry for whatever reason.

There wasn't a centaur eating at the table, and I felt slightly disappointed, as I had once been told a rumor about one who taught Divination. I was tempted to ask about it, but didn't feel particularly bold enough to try.

Finally, the desserts vanished, as well. It was then when I realized that the Headmaster was standing up. "Now that you have finished your dinners, it is time I tell you a few things about the school.

"First, I am sure that you all know about the Forbidden Forest being, well, forbidden." The huge man chuckled to himself, and I rolled my eyes at his pitiful excuse for humor. "No magic is to be used in between classes in the hallways, either.

"Anyone interested in Quidditch will want to contact Mr. Tase if wishing to play for House Teams. The trials should be held sometime within the second week of term, depending on your House captain.

"It would also be noted that student clubs are things in which I have no authority over, and I will allow myself to look the other way as long as advertisements are placed on the common room bulletins, instead of painted across the walls of the castle.

"And now, I'm afraid, it is time for bed."

Each House followed their respective prefects, each First Year wondering where their part of Hogwarts was. I, for one, already knew because my dad had told me, being that confident in where I would end up.

The Fifth Year prefects of Slytherin were the ones to lead. They introduced themselves proudly as Brandon Vaisey and Evelyn Irving.

We followed them down the castle, passing through marble staircases and chattering paintings. There was one part, even, where we had to stand completely still in one particular spot, until the floor completely engulfed us, bringing us to an otherwise inaccessible floor. When we at last reached the part of the dungeons we were headed, many of the First Years were groaning with exhaustion.

The door to our common room looked just like an ordinary pillar, except it had a faint silver snake curled around it. The patterned serpent began to move as the prefects reached it, and Irving told it, "Gillyweed." The snake hissed in reply, as the pillar moved sideways to reveal an open hole in the wall.

Everyone entered the Slytherin common room to find a comfortable looking couch and a warm, flickering fire. Vaisey then led us boys to our dormitory, as Irving led the girls to theirs.

Something I noticed when we reached it, was that there was a poorly filled hole in the ceiling near one of the beds. Making sure to choose a bed as far away from it as possible, I still felt a bit worried. Perhaps it was a closed passageway that actually let to the bottom of the lake? I dared not unblock it for this reason, not wanting to drown in my own bed.

The window showing a full moon was closed by one of my roommates, but I didn't bother to check which one. The candle near my bed was quickly turned off, and I lay wide awake in bed, despite my extreme tiredness.

Why was it that I wanted to go to Hogwarts, again? Why was it that I refused to be home-schooled like my mother had all but insisted? I had remembered arguing that school was going to be an adventure, and that it would be an exciting thing I might one day regret not living through.

I didn't feel adventurous or excited – just queasy and a tiny bit nervous. Already, I'd forgotten to take into account that I'd never left home before for longer than twenty four hours. Boarding school? Why had I said yes to that? Sure, it did have a few little perks, like being the best one in the UK.

Still, without it I never would have met Rose, or anyone else smart enough to compare with me. Sure, I might have made friends without it, but Mum and Dad would have kept me isolated for the majority of my youthful years.

Thinking about my soon-to-be grand time at Hogwarts, I smiled a little bit. Even though my House-mates were stupid arses who threw the word Mudblood in every once and a while, I thought I might have a good time, anyways. Besides, not everyone in Slytherin could be nearly as prejudiced as they seemed. Rolling over in my bed, I realized that Hogwarts might not be nearly as much of a downer that it suddenly seemed.

Looking at my watch, I blinked with surprise. "Twelve?" I whispered to myself, although rather loudly. "Shit!" Classes started tomorrow, and students needed to get up bright and early in order to get any breakfast. Taking off my watch, I got under the covers. It was going to be a long day.

* * *

**Thought of the Day: What is it that makes people assume that Slytherin is evil? There are many times in the books, or in real life where people refer to Slytherins as such, when there Slughorn is, so obviously not. Perhaps being cunning and manipulative are traits that are easy to abuse? There is no true answer... It's only something to think about.**


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